My first MBW 1665 DRSD build, help please. :D

[civic4982]

Hi everyone,

I've done one of these builds before but with a Cartel cass set.

 

Thansk to RolexFinder many of us were able to obtain the coveted MBW/MBK cases.

I hope this thread can be a build thread and seek some of your help.

 

First off, I was able to remove the stock bezel fairly easily. Unfortunately there was a lot of goo and glue inside it keeping things held together. I've removed some of it but will have to go back over it with rubbing alcohol or goo gone to be rid of it all so that the bezel can spin with the washer in place.

Was able to install the gen flat 4 insert with tritium pearl that I was able to get from sby007. (THANKS). Currently though the bezel is T-I-G-H-T!

 

The second issue is lug bars.

My watch arrived without any lug bars. I had some old 20mm lugbars for a many years ago 6200 build but those were too fat. Any advice on lug bar compatibility? I've read in the past that these will need to be drilled to accept gen lug bars.

I really wish these came with their original lug bars so I could have something to wear while I gradually build things up. Are there any recommended lug bars that will fit into the current holes as is?

 

Thanks very much for all your responses in advance.

Off we go:

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[ronin007]

Something like this should fit,http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SPRING-BAR-PIN-ROLEX-SUBMARINER-5513-SEA-DWELLER-1655-1665-STRAP-BAND-STEEL-/310356147505?hash=item4842aafd31 ,I'm sure the experts will chime in soon,i did drill some of mine myself but its not so easy unless your good at those types of things,think it was 1.25 drill bit ,if you search on here I'm sure theres a thread on it

Good read here on the lugs 

 

[civic4982]

Thank you Ronin 007! Will check those out.

 

Looks like needs to be drilled .Sending to a buddy to help. Just wanna wear it as is for aw hile. upgrade over the next months or year.

[DVNE]

47 minutes ago, civic4982 said:

Thank you Ronin 007! Will check those out.

 

Looks like needs to be drilled .Sending to a buddy to help. Just wanna wear it as is for aw hile. upgrade over the next months or year.

https://www.topspecus.com/shop/genuine-replacement-marathon-stainless-steel-spring-bars/

 

These will fit and look the part until you get it drilled out.

[panerai153]

AFA modding the 1665 MBW, you can take it as far as you and your wallet allow!! Gen insert/Pearl, crown, movement, hands, Crystal and a really good aftermarket dial. Gen springbars,bracelet and end

Inks. After all this and some case reshaping, lug hole drilling and a couple of thousand dollars in parts, you have a really,really nice 1665.

Nice thing, you can do this in stages over time. You don't feel the pain nearly as much that way.

Here is mine, all of the above mods. And around three K total!!

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[civic4982]

I've been studying gen dials and this MBW dial is just really odd so far as the over expressed spaces in the word "SEA -DWELLER." Makes me feel this dial isn't even worth using as a coaster. Probably just either wear as is or go all out for a nice aftermarket dial and match the lume in the hands. Pouring money to relume this dial seems silly since it's so awkward looking.

Also been eyeing some t39. May just be thrifty and slip a Clarks or CWP on it. Gen service replacements are tempting. Original superdome prices are astronomical.

As far as crowns go I'm not wanting to spring big bucks on a 700 or 702 gen so got an Athaya 702 on the way.

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[AGONZCA]

I jist love the DRSD.

I'm also building the same watch, initially I was also going with a MBW as a base watch, but I got so obssesed with perfection the now I'm going with phong. 

So far I got these parts

- Phonh case

- Gen NOS T39

- Gen fat font MK III insert

- Gen 702 crown and tube

- Gen hands

- Gen 1570 movement

- Gen silver DW

 

But my weak point it's the dial, I haven't been able to find the right dial for this watch. For now I might be going with a "tonnyswatch" brown MK II dial, but I'm hoping to find a better dial in the near future.

 

[jackflash]

I jist love the DRSD.

I'm also building the same watch, initially I was also going with a MBW as a base watch, but I got so obssesed with perfection the now I'm going with phong. 

So far I got these parts

- Phonh case

- Gen NOS T39

- Gen fat font MK III insert

- Gen 702 crown and tube

- Gen hands

- Gen 1570 movement

- Gen silver DW

 

But my weak point it's the dial, I haven't been able to find the right dial for this watch. For now I might be going with a "tonnyswatch" brown MK II dial, but I'm hoping to find a better dial in the near future.

 

That's a very nice build spec! Looking forward to seeing the progress

Here's mine. Cartel midcase and back. Phong bezel assembly. Yuki insert, pearl, hands, T39 crystal. ETA 2846. Singer dial. Polexpete DWO.

[AGONZCA]

I jist love the DRSD. I'm also building the same watch, initially I was also going with a MBW as a base watch, but I got so obssesed with perfection the now I'm going with phong. 

So far I got these parts

- Phonh case

- Gen NOS T39

- Gen fat font MK III insert

- Gen 702 crown and tube

- Gen hands

- Gen 1570 movement

- Gen silver DW

 

But my weak point it's the dial, I haven't been able to find the right dial for this watch. For now I might be going with a "tonnyswatch" brown MK II dial, but I'm hoping to find a better dial in the near future.

 

That's a very nice build spec! Looking forward to seeing the progress

Here's mine. Cartel midcase and back. Phong bezel assembly. Yuki insert, pearl, hands, T39 crystal. ETA 2846. Singer dial. Polexpete DWO.

That's a nice looking dial with a nice aged tritium effect. Who's dial is it?

[jackflash]

That's a nice looking dial with a nice aged tritium effect. Who's dial is it?

Thanks. Got lucky on eBay a couple of years ago. It's a Singer reprint. Unfortunately I have no idea who remanufactured it, neither did seller at the time.

[civic4982]

Lotsa great ones here.

Is the silver DW era appropriate?

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[ronin007]

3 hours ago, jackflash said:

 

That's a very nice build spec! Looking forward to seeing the progress

Here's mine. Cartel midcase and back. Phong bezel assembly. Yuki insert, pearl, hands, T39 crystal. ETA 2846. Singer dial. Polexpete DWO.

Those phong bezels are so smart,I've got one as well

[jackflash]

Lotsa great ones here.

Is the silver DW era appropriate?

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Yes, for a 1970s model.

[civic4982]

Lotsa great ones here.Is the silver DW era appropriate?

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Yes, for a 1970s model.

Thanks I was unaware of this...

Man you guys keep adding on more things for me to mod

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[Champagnesky]

 

That's a very nice build spec! Looking forward to seeing the progress

Here's mine. Cartel midcase and back. Phong bezel assembly. Yuki insert, pearl, hands, T39 crystal. ETA 2846. Singer dial. Polexpete DWO.

Those phong bezels are so smart,I've got one as well

That do they go for? My cartel bezel is very loose, would like to change it.

[civic4982]

So good news is I got it drilled and can finally wear it.

The bad news is for some reason my Athaya 702 crown is MUCH bigger opening for crown tube.

So it wasn't a straight forward swap for the 1665 MBW case.

It seems though that the others such as the 5513 that Delaforce another member did was perfect fit...

Odd.

Stock MBW on the left, and Athaya 702 on the right.

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[civic4982]

Another interesting tidbit is that this 1665 I got is lumed.

All this time I thought the MBW/MBK dials were not lumed?

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[civic4982]

Anyone know a good place to pick up end links and bracelet to match this?

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[Champagnesky]

Anyone know a good place to pick up end links and bracelet to match this?

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The new cartel 93150 bracelet is pretty decent imho. As it is for endlinks, go for WSO

[hugop]

Anyone know a good place to pick up end links and bracelet to match this?Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The new cartel 93150 bracelet is pretty decent imho. As it is for endlinks, go for WSO

Anyone know a good place to pick up end links and bracelet to match this?

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+1 on the WSO end links. I picked up a pair of their 580 links for fat spring bars and they worked greatv for my MBW 1680.

Here is a better pic. I tried a set of gen 501b and they sit way below the top of the lugs.

This is still the 580 from wso

[sgtguk]

+1 on wso 580 endlinks they are a perfect (ish) fit on stock Mbw case 

[automatico]

"+1 on wso 580 endlinks, they are a perfect (ish) fit on stock Mbw case." 

I put a set on an MBW 5513 case (exactly the same as an MBW 1680 case) and had to bend the outer ends of the curved top down a bit so the tips would not rub the rotating bezel...this in effect caused the end link to push away from the mid case a little bit causing the spring bars not to fit through the tubes in the hoods and into the case. So...I had to grind the entire curved top edge of the end links to allow them to move toward the mid case a little bit and after a tweak here and a tweak there, I finally got a good fit. Perfect (ish) is right...but they are the best I could find.

On DW cases I use end links with the tubes removed to save all the fitting hassles. DW cases (the ones that do have numbers/letters) are engraved where MBK cases are laser etched so the top rows of MBK letters will probably disappear quickly with loose end links. Here is something to think about...DW cases are not very true to form compared to a pristine genuine case or new MBK/Yuki/Phong case but they do look quite a bit like a 35 year old genuine case that has been beat up and polished a few times leaving rounded case sides and no lug bevels. They look a lot more to me like an old watch than a new one.

 

"The bad news is for some reason my Athaya 702 crown is MUCH bigger opening for crown tube. So it wasn't a straight forward swap for the 1665 MBW case. It seems though that the others such as the 5513 that Delaforce another member did was perfect fit..."

The case tube threads where the tube screws into the case are 2.95mm to 3.0mm and the threads where the crown screws on are 4.95mm to 5.0mm (genuine spec). On the MBK cases I have, genuine spec case tubes screw into the cases just fine, same for DW, Yuki, and IG44.

[civic4982]

Thanks for the advice. A friend actually kindly gifted me a cartel 93150 and it wears great!

As for the crown tube a friend also said in his experience the Athaya (and gen) tubes fit perfect on the 5513 and 1680 MBW.

That just mean the 1665 uses a different setup.

So no luck on the crown yet but so far so good:

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[UmpaHimself]

Is that a phong insert you ended up getting? Looks like a nice fat font. I like the MBW insert very much, the triangle is really nice at 12 but since I actually bought 4 MBWs I kind of want some variety. Looks like a good start though. The MBWs I got have varying degrees of lum glow and color. Some more white and flat, some more yellow and puffy. I am curious so know what you find with the crown and tube as I have just ordered a gen set based on the statement another member made in another thread specifically about the MBW crown. He said a gen crown can fit on the MBW tube but when I compare my cartel with Athaya crown/tube to the stock MBW, the Athaya tube looks thicker.

[themannier]

2 hours ago, UmpaHimself said:

Is that a phong insert you ended up getting? Likes like a nice fat font. I like the MBW insert very much, the triangle is really nice at 12 but since I actually bought 4 MBWs I kind of want some variety. Looks like a good start though. The MBWs I got have varying degrees of lum glow and color. Some more white and flat, some more yellow and puffy. I am curious so know what you find with the crown and tube as I have just ordered a gen set based on the statement another member made in another thread specifically about the MBW crown. He said a gen crown can fit on the MBW tube but when I compare my cartel with Athaya crown/tube to the stock MBW, the Athaya tube looks thicker.

Could we have a picture of the stock MBW tube next to your athaya tube to compare ? Thanks in advance 

I remember that the stock cartel tube has a very small diameter...i guess this is bigger on MBW